SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles made another minor league deal tonight, acquiring reliever Jairo Asencio from the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later or cash. Asencio, 28, is 1-2 with a 5.23 ERA in 39 major league games spread over three seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs. He signed with the Brewers as a minor league free agent Nov. 5 and appeared in one spring training game, allowing two runs and one hit, with two walks, without retiring a...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Dating to March 14, Chris Young has now worked 12 straight innings without allowing an earned run. Some big league team out there has a hole in its rotation, and that team might be wise to take a shot on this 6-foot-10 right-hander. Young held the Astros to two hits and an unearned run through four innings tonight, and if not for two misplayed popups, he would have retired 10 of the last 11 he faced. As it is, he's still pitched pretty darn well, especially after allowing...

SARASOTA, Fla. - A magnetic resonance imaging on Wilson Betemit's right knee this afternoon has revealed a Grade 2/3 posterior cruciate ligament tear and "associated injuries," according to a team spokesman. Betemit collapsed in the dirt near second base in the bottom of the fifth inning as he ran to the bag on Manny Machado's fly ball to left field. He rolled from side to side in excruciating pain and was carted off the field and helped into the clubhouse with a brace that extended from...

If some things had gone a different way several years ago, Chris Davis might have been hitting homers for the Yankees rather than against them. Davis was drafted by New York in round 50 in 2004 out of Longview (Texas) High School. He was also taken a year later in round 35 by the Angels. He didn't sign either time and finally did when the Texas Rangers drafted him in round 5 of 2006. Then he became an Oriole in a trade deadline deal in 2011. That all worked out well for him last summer, when...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Yesterday morning, Davey Johnson reported that Henry Rodriguez was dealing with some soreness in his right elbow, which the Nationals right-hander had operated on last August to clean up a bone spur. Johnson and general manager Mike Rizzo both said they weren't worried about Rodriguez's health, but any time you're talking about elbow soreness for a pitcher, especially one just seven months removed from surgery on said elbow, you wonder if any further issues could...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Pedro Strop sat in the Orioles' bullpen during today's game and tried to get an update on his teammate and close friend, Wilson Betemit, who was carted off the field with an injury to his right knee. Strop asked a reporter who was walking past him. He kept hoping for good news. Then he had to pitch. "It was hard for me, because we are always talking in the offseason, we are in contact, and I know how hard he worked this offseason to get his swing ready and everything,"...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter walked off the field during the late innings of today's game against the Boston Red Sox, heading straight to the trainers room to console Wilson Betemit. Betemit was carted off the field with an injury to his right knee that's been diagnosed initially as a sprained ligament. He's undergoing an MRI this afternoon and the team hopes to have the results later tonight. "I've got a heavy heart with Wilson, boy. That's tough," Showalter said...

SARASOTA, Fla. - At the risk of getting too far ahead of ourselves, today's injury to Wilson Betemit would seem to increase the chances that Ryan Flaherty makes the team. Flaherty already had placed himself in a favorable position, and his left-handed bat would be a good replacement for Betemit, who isn't nearly as productive from the right side of the plate. If Betemit is out for an extended period, the Orioles also could keep one of their right-handed hitting first basemen/outfielders....

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Kyle Lohse finally has a team. I guess his days of throwing simulated games against community college squads are over. Lohse agreed to a three-year, $33 million deal with the Brewers, according to reports. He'll now have a solid week to get to know his teammates before opening day. Former Nats starter John Lannan got smacked around a bit today. The Phillies lefty gave up 12 runs on 14 hits over four innings today in a game against the Blue Jays. I guess he was just working...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The result of today's game between the Orioles and Red Sox no longer will matter in the home clubhouse. The big concern centers around Wilson Betemit, who left the field on a cart after appearing to injure his right knee in the fifth inning. He had a brace on his right leg while being assisted inside the clubhouse. Betemit fell between first and second base on Manny Machado's fly ball to left field. Betemit was rolling in the dirt in pain as the Red Sox doubled him off...